Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner
|branch= |serviceyears=1755-1800 |rank=Admiral |unit= |commands=Portsmouth Command |battles= |relations=Alan Hyde Gardner (eldest son), Robert Barrie (nephew) |laterwork=MP for Plymouth and, later, Westminster. }} Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner (12 February 1742 – 1 January 1809) was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He was regarded by some as one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral. Naval career Gardner joined the Royal Navy in 1755. Promoted to Captain in 1766, his first command was the fireship . He commanded a number of frigates before being promoted to a ship of the line. In 1782 he commanded a ship at the Battle of the Saintes and in 1786, as Commodore of the American Squadron (consisting of [[HMS Europa (1765)|HMS Europa]] and ), he suppressed smuggling in the Gulf of Mexico and ordered detailed hydrographic surveys of Caribbean locations of interest to the Navy. During this time, he commanded and probably mentored future famous officers such as George Vancouver, Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey. He was a Member of the Board of Admiralty from 1790 to 1795 and was then promoted to full Admiral in 1795. During the Mutiny at Spithead in 1797, Gardner negotiated directly with the mutineers, until he lost his temper, seized a mutineer by the throat and threatened to hang the lot. This nearly led to his own demise at the hands of the mutineers, but cooler heads prevailed. In 1800 he became Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Station. That year he was also created Baron Gardner, of Uttoxeter, in the Peerage of Ireland and in 1806 the title of Baron Gardner in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was created for him. He was Member of Parliament for Plymouth and, later, Westminster. He was briefly Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth from March to June 1803.History in Portsmouth In 1807 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet and he died in office on 1 January 1809. Family Gardner was born in Uttoxeter. He married Susannah Hyde Gale (c. 1760 - 20 April 1823) on 20 May 1769.The Gale/Gayle Families of the West Indies (portrait of Susanna Hyde Gale included) They had two sons. The older son, Alan Hyde Gardner, 2nd Baron Gardner, and their nephew, Robert Barrie, became Admirals in the Royal Navy. Gale was a Jamaican heiress and the daughter of Francis Gale, a plantation owner, and Susanna Hall. Through his brother, Major Valentine Gardner, he was the uncle of Colonel William Linnæus Gardner, an Indian officer. Legacy Capt. George Vancouver named several locations after Gardner: Mount Gardner in Australia, the Gardner Channel in Canada, and Port Gardner Bay in Puget Sound. Also in Puget Sound, Port Susan is named for his wife, Susannah. An East Indiaman was named after Admiral Gardner; it was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, 24 January 1809. It was carrying a large number of copper 10 and 20 cash coins minted by the East India Company for circulation in the Madras Presidency.Soho Mint: The Loss of the Admiral Gardner Preserved in tightly sealed barrels, large numbers were retrieved around 1986. They are frequently packaged and sold as very inexpensive "shipwreck coins."Coin Community References ;Attribution ; Endnotes: * Charnock's Biog. Nav. vi. 583 * Ralfe's Nav. Biog. i. 407 * Foster's Peerage * Jerdan's National Portrait Gallery External links *Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner, illustrations in the National Maritime Museum *Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner, illustrations in the National Portrait Gallery *Alan Gardner at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |- |- Category:1742 births Category:1809 deaths Category:Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain Category:People from Uttoxeter Category:Royal Navy admirals Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Category:British MPs 1790–96 Category:British MPs 1796–1800 Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:UK MPs 1801–1802 Category:UK MPs 1802–1806